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North Carolina criminal defense: Life after a felony conviction

On Behalf of | Nov 13, 2017 | Criminal Defense |

You may already understand how a felony conviction affects your life immediately, but have you given any thought to the future consequences? For example, say you were convicted of a drug felony and dutifully served your time and paid the price. When you reenter society, you will likely face more obstacles than you might have imagined.

Some of these collateral consequences include the following.

  1. Loss of civil rights: A felony conviction takes away a person’s voting rights and other civil liberties. In another example, convicted felons cannot serve on a jury.
  2. No federal assistance: Many felons reentering society desperately need financial assistance. However, federal benefits are out of their reach because of the conviction. These benefits include food stamps, student loans and many others.
  3. Employment consequences: Many employers are hesitant to hire a convicted felon. Such convictions may also affect the ability to acquire a professional license in some types of industry.
  4. Loss of gun privileges: Most convicted felons lose the right to own or possess firearms. This means you cannot even possess a firearm for hunting or for self-defense.
  5. Other consequences: We also want you to understand that a felony conviction could have a negative effect on your personal life. Often, this means loss of family, friendships and reputation. For many, this is more devastating than the other collateral consequences.

Our North Carolina criminal defense attorneys want to extend a message of hope to those facing felony charges. First, do not give up in the fight to overcome the charges. Secondly, always remember that it is your right to defend yourself anytime you are charged with a crime. Please see our website for additional information about building an effective criminal defense.

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